(The wind articles will continue next, but I just had to publish this, since it has been waiting very patiently.)
Don’t ask, don’t tell?
How do you learn to sail better or race faster? The same as “how do you get to Carnegie Hall”, right? “Practice, practice, practice”. Well, yeeeessss, but what about asking questions of those [...]

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Ready to hear more about how race wind works? This time I’ll answer more of the questions I posed in my first article. So you don’t have to jump back and forth, I’ll repeat each question in bold before I give an answer. And for those who suffered flashbacks of high school math classes during [...]

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Today’s Sailing Skills Class featured Mothgirl Dibou, who gave sailors a special Valentine: Her personal discussion of tips and tricks for the Flying Fizz sailboat as well as a fascinating peek at the features that will be included in the upcoming 2.00 upgrade.

In case you were busy with other Valentine’s Day activities, SLSailing.com is [...]

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Several weeks ago a group of us were sitting around the table on the terrace of Nantucket Yacht Club, knocking back a few and talking about the wind. Jane Fossett asked, “do all boats in a given race feel the same variation of wind at the same time?” A simple question, yet a critical one, [...]

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This week Liv Leigh and Armchair Binder both posted comments emphasizing Start Line issues as part of racing strategy. I agree; as Liv pointed out, a good start is pretty critical for a winning race.  In fact, this was so obvious in the recent Tako Cup Challenge that MarkTwain White altered the Start rules so that skippers [...]

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Hi! You don’t need to read this article!
Not that you ever thought you needed to read anything else I ever wrote, but the only thing I’m going to say today is something really silly. Nonetheless, I think this bears repeating: Big Boats need more room to turn than Little Boats.
Got that? Good!
Since I get paid by [...]

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Following Waypoint Yacht Club’s Tako and Flying Fizz Races this morning, Mothgirl Dibou talked with several of us on the SYC dock about some Fizz racing features and answered questions about her new boat. She had several interesting tips and suggestions, so I thought I should post the transcript here:
[7:00] IM: Mothgirl Dibou: I couldn’t [...]

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You get to the start line late, you rez your boat and jump in.  The clock starts and you raise sail, but suddenly you realize something’s wrong; you don’t have race wind!  So you flounder around, clicking on the windsetter, crisscrossing the start line, re-rezzing your boat, or even resetting your scripts. Eventually something works and [...]

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As part of NYC’s ongoing Sailing Skills Classes, Bea Woodget has pulled together a slide set that takes a close look at the Starboards Yacht Club Olympic Course. It dissects each leg of the race, detailing the sailing issues and skipper options. Bea will present the current version of her slideshow during the regular 12:00 noon Sailing Skills Class [...]

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I love watching the Sunday Big-Boat Races at NYC. From high above you get a truly remarkable view of the tall ships as they maneuver over the race course, jockeying back and forth for position. But that’s not really what I want to talk about today. I want to talk about something much more serious… The [...]

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